6 Apr
2005
6 Apr
'05
11:04 a.m.
Subject: Re: rx01 w/o controller board
From: Patrick Finnegan <pat at computer-refuge.org>
On Wednesday 06 April 2005 03:50, Gooijen H wrote:
The ones with DB25 were used with Decmate-1 all others only had a
ribbon cable exiting the box at a bracket to support the cable.
the DECmate-1 version FYI still has the same baords and cable
hookup internally so it is usable with any system (after setting
internal dipswitch).
Allison
Hi Brad,
the connection from the controller board (UNIBUS or QBUS) is a
straight cable AFAIK. The RX01 and RX02 exist as a table top box and
uses a DB25 connector to the controller.
Not all RX01's have a DB25 to connect to the controller, on the ones I
recovered with an 11/23 system (rackmount drives), there's just a
ribbon cable connecting the two berg connectors on the controller and
drive together. 
6 Apr
6 Apr
11:11 a.m.
the connection from the controller board (UNIBUS or
QBUS) is a
straight cable AFAIK. The RX01 and RX02 exist as a table top box and
uses a DB25 connector to the controller.
Not all RX01's have a DB25 to connect to the controller, on the ones I
recovered with an 11/23 system (rackmount drives), there's just a
ribbon cable connecting the two berg connectors on the controller and
drive together. 
11:45 a.m.
On Wednesday 06 April 2005 10:11, Ashley Carder wrote:
My RX01 with a DB25 was used with an 11/03 in an
office back in the
late 1970s and 1980s. A null modem cable was used to connect from a
serial line in the back of the 11/03 to the DB25 on the back of the
tabletop RX01.
Serial line? AFAIK, the RX01 never had an RS232-type interface to it..
TU58s do have a serial connection (though maybe not at RS-232 signal
levels). I'd imagine you'd need a straight-thru DB25->DB25 cable to
hook an RX01 up to an RXV11 or RXV21.
Pat
--
Purdue University ITAP/RCS --- http://www.itap.purdue.edu/rcs/
The Computer Refuge --- http://computer-refuge.org
11:53 a.m.
My RX01 with a
DB25 was used with an 11/03 in an office back in the
late 1970s and 1980s. A null modem cable was used to connect from a
serial line in the back of the 11/03 to the DB25 on the back of the
tabletop RX01.
Serial line? AFAIK, the RX01 never had an RS232-type interface to it..
TU58s do have a serial connection (though maybe not at RS-232 signal
levels). I'd imagine you'd need a straight-thru DB25->DB25 cable to
hook an RX01 up to an RXV11 or RXV21. 
6:17 p.m.
New subject: Odd DEC panel available.
This turned up while I was collecting some indicators for a control panel
project.
But this might be something that should not get chopped up, and I'm not
quite sure
what this is (was).
Its a 19 inch wide, rack mount panel with a 36-bit indicator register using
Dialco 507-3917 incandescent lamps (5 are missing). There are also 4 toggle
switches (one dammaged).
The panel itself is .250" thick plate, painted grey with hand-written labels
written
on masking tape.
Behind the panel there are two (DEC) 4918 18-bit Indicator boards with
transistor
drivers and connectors for logic and power. Spade lugs supply the power
while
a single-finger 'unibus-like' female edge connector is used for the logic
signals.
The toggle switches are connected by multi-couductor flat cable (not modern
ribbon cable) to a 3-66 PERFORATED BOARD W994A, which is a single
finger 'unibus-like' male edge card connector.
It gets more interesting when I read the handwritten labels above the
indicators.
From left to right, they read:
A sel
B sel
Restart
IOT GO
PA PIR 1 thru 7
PB PIR 1 thru 7
P0
P1
RD RQ
WR RQ
META STP
META ERR
(blank)
PU 1
P1
(blank)
FLAG
PIA PDP-6 (3 lamps)
10 FLAG
PIA PDP-10 (3 lamps)
I'm guessing this was part of some PDP-10 to PDP-6 interface kludge made
from DEC logic modules. Is this part of some
well-known kludge, it
probably
came from MIT's surplus equipment exchange back in the mid 1980's, but
its clearly much older than that.
Is this something someone wants, or should it be canabilized?
( I gotta Google on a PDP-6, I dunno that one, but I know what a -10 is!)
6:37 p.m.
New subject: Odd DEC panel available.
Bob wrote:
( I gotta Google on a PDP-6, I dunno that one, but I
know what a -10 is!)
The PDP-6 was DEC's first 36-bit computer system. The processor was the
Type 166. The architecture is nearly identical to the KA10, which was the
first PDP-10 CPU.
The PDP-6 was not considered to be a commercial success. Only 23 were
produced, and they were considered to be somewhat unreliable. The 36-bit
product line was cancelled for the first of several times. Reportedly
Harlan Anderson, one of the cofounders of DEC, was blamed for the
failure and pushed out of DEC as a result.
Presumably the PDP-10 was called that rather than a PDP-6/B or the like
due due to the PDP-6 stigma. Apparently the people lobbying for a new
36-bit computer represented it to upper management as a process control
system rather than a timesharing system, though it is likely that few
were ever used that way.
Eric
6:48 p.m.
New subject: Odd DEC panel available.
http://simh.trailing-edge.com/photos/pdp6.jpg
yes?
Bob,
I pic of the panel would be nice.
--
Tim Riker - http://rikers.org/ - TimR at Debian.org
Embedded Linux Technologist
BZFlag maintainer - http://BZFlag.org/ - for fun!
6:52 p.m.
New subject: Odd DEC panel available.
Tim wrote:
I haven't seen it, but I think the panel Bob is describing is one
of the top-of-H960-rack indicator panels, not the CPU console.
These were panels mainly used for diagnostic purposes. If you look
at any photos of KA10- or KI10-based PDP-10 systems (DECsystem-10),
almost all of the cabinets have such a panel at the top.
Eric
7:15 p.m.
New subject: Odd DEC panel available.
Correct, this would sit at the top of one of the early blue racks
used for the PDP-6, or it could go into a H-960 or just about
any other 19-inch rack.
It is not the PDP-6 CPU panel itself, that looks to be 2 bays
wide.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Eric Smith" <eric at brouhaha.com>
To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts"
<cctalk at classiccmp.org>
Sent: Wednesday, April 06, 2005 6:52 PM
Subject: Re: Odd DEC panel available.
Tim wrote:
I haven't seen it, but I think the panel Bob is describing is one
of the top-of-H960-rack indicator panels, not the CPU console.
These were panels mainly used for diagnostic purposes. If you look
at any photos of KA10- or KI10-based PDP-10 systems (DECsystem-10),
almost all of the cabinets have such a panel at the top.
Eric
6:55 p.m.
New subject: Odd DEC panel available.
Woof!
Ya gotta love the old iron.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tim Riker" <Tim at rikers.org>
To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts"
<cctalk at classiccmp.org>
Sent: Wednesday, April 06, 2005 6:48 PM
Subject: Re: Odd DEC panel available.
http://simh.trailing-edge.com/photos/pdp6.jpg
yes?
Bob,
I pic of the panel would be nice.
--
Tim Riker - http://rikers.org/ - TimR at Debian.org
Embedded Linux Technologist
BZFlag maintainer - http://BZFlag.org/ - for fun!
8 Apr
8 Apr
5:02 p.m.
New subject: Odd DEC panel available.
Sounds a little like the panels on the top of our old DX11 units, which went
from PDP11/45 to IBM 9020. The included a whole bunch
of Flip Chip logic
panels, as well as various Unibus repeater and driver cards.
Still have one
of the indicator panels somewhere (probably still have a couple of DX11's at
work.....)
Jim.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob Shannon" <bshannon at tiac.net>
To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts"
<cctalk at classiccmp.org>
Sent: Wednesday, April 06, 2005 11:17 PM
Subject: Odd DEC panel available.
This turned up while I was collecting some indicators
for a control panel
project.
But this might be something that should not get chopped up, and I'm not
quite sure
what this is (was).
Its a 19 inch wide, rack mount panel with a 36-bit indicator register
using
Dialco 507-3917 incandescent lamps (5 are missing).
There are also 4
toggle
switches (one dammaged).
The panel itself is .250" thick plate, painted grey with hand-written
labels
written
on masking tape.
Behind the panel there are two (DEC) 4918 18-bit Indicator boards with
transistor
drivers and connectors for logic and power. Spade lugs supply the power
while
a single-finger 'unibus-like' female edge connector is used for the logic
signals.
The toggle switches are connected by multi-couductor flat cable (not
modern
ribbon cable) to a 3-66 PERFORATED BOARD W994A, which
is a single
finger 'unibus-like' male edge card connector.
It gets more interesting when I read the handwritten labels above the
indicators.
From left to right, they read:
A sel
B sel
Restart
IOT GO
PA PIR 1 thru 7
PB PIR 1 thru 7
P0
P1
RD RQ
WR RQ
META STP
META ERR
(blank)
PU 1
P1
(blank)
FLAG
PIA PDP-6 (3 lamps)
10 FLAG
PIA PDP-10 (3 lamps)
I'm guessing this was part of some PDP-10 to PDP-6 interface kludge made
from DEC logic modules. Is this part of some well-known kludge, it
probably
came from MIT's surplus equipment exchange back in the mid 1980's, but
its clearly much older than that.
Is this something someone wants, or should it be canabilized?
( I gotta Google on a PDP-6, I dunno that one, but I know what a -10 is!)
7:56 p.m.
New subject: Odd DEC panel available.
On Apr 8, 2005 5:02 PM, Jim Beacon <jim at g1jbg.co.uk> wrote:
Sounds a little like the panels on the top of our old
DX11 units, which went
from PDP11/45 to IBM 9020. The included a whole bunch of Flip Chip logic
panels, as well as various Unibus repeater and driver cards. Still have one
of the indicator panels somewhere (probably still have a couple of DX11's at
work.....)
I wish I could find one of those panels (they are generic and used by
a wad of options). Mine would go on an RK11-C that would then go on a
PDP-11/20. Until I locate or replicate an indicator panel, I do have
plenty of other hardware to restore, so I can bide my time.
I didn't know that any variants came with switches, though.
-ethan
10 Apr
10 Apr
11:05 p.m.
New subject: Odd DEC panel available.
On Fri, 2005-04-08 at 19:56 -0400, Ethan Dicks wrote:
On Apr 8, 2005 5:02 PM, Jim Beacon <jim at
g1jbg.co.uk> wrote:
After reading about the PDP-6 I was curious to see if the CHM had one,
so I searched their Artifact Collection for it.
No PDP-6, but since the last time I was there, they included an online
photo search! WAY COOL! A large PDP-6 configuration is visible here:
http://tinyurl.com/647vf (leads to the CHM)
a much higher-res 6MB tif is here:
http://tinyurl.com/728xe
Is the panel in view here?
Sounds a little like the panels on the top of our
old DX11 units, which went
from PDP11/45 to IBM 9020. The included a whole bunch of Flip Chip logic
panels, as well as various Unibus repeater and driver cards. Still have one
of the indicator panels somewhere (probably still have a couple of DX11's at
work.....)
I wish I could find one of those panels (they are generic and used by
a wad of options). Mine would go on an RK11-C that would then go on a
PDP-11/20. Until I locate or replicate an indicator panel, I do have
plenty of other hardware to restore, so I can bide my time.
I didn't know that any variants came with switches, though.
-ethan
7070
days inactive
7075
days old
13 comments
10 participants
participants (10)
-
ajp166＠bellatlantic.net -
ard＠p850ug1.demon.co.uk -
bshannon＠tiac.net -
eric＠brouhaha.com -
ethan.dicks＠gmail.com -
jim＠g1jbg.co.uk -
pat＠computer-refuge.org -
Tim＠rikers.org -
toresbe＠ifi.uio.no -
wacarder＠usit.net